Early detection of cancer

Science. 2022 Mar 18;375(6586):eaay9040. doi: 10.1126/science.aay9040. Epub 2022 Mar 18.

Authors

David Crosby¹, Sangeeta Bhatia^{2

3}, Kevin M Brindle^{4

5}, Lisa M Coussens^{6

7}, Caroline Dive^{8

9}, Mark Emberton¹⁰, Sadik Esener^{7

11

12}, Rebecca C Fitzgerald¹³, Sanjiv S Gambhir¹⁴, Peter Kuhn¹⁵, Timothy R Rebbeck^{16

17}, Shankar Balasubramanian^{4

18}

Affiliations

¹ Cancer Research UK (CRUK), London, UK.
² Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴ Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
⁷ Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
⁸ Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence at the University of Manchester and University College London, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
⁹ CRUK Manchester Institute Cancer Biomarker Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
¹⁰ Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK.
¹¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
¹² Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
¹³ Medical Research Council (MRC) Cancer Unit, Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁴ Department of Radiology, Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁵ USC Michelson Center Convergent Science Institute in Cancer, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁶ Division of Population Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁸ Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

PMID: 35298272
DOI: 10.1126/science.aay9040

Abstract

Survival improves when cancer is detected early. However, ~50% of cancers are at an advanced stage when diagnosed. Early detection of cancer or precancerous change allows early intervention to try to slow or prevent cancer development and lethality. To achieve early detection of all cancers, numerous challenges must be overcome. It is vital to better understand who is at greatest risk of developing cancer. We also need to elucidate the biology and trajectory of precancer and early cancer to identify consequential disease that requires intervention. Insights must be translated into sensitive and specific early detection technologies and be appropriately evaluated to support practical clinical implementation. Interdisciplinary collaboration is key; advances in technology and biological understanding highlight that it is time to accelerate early detection research and transform cancer survival.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biomarkers, Tumor
Carcinogenesis
Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures
Disease Susceptibility
Early Detection of Cancer*
Female
Humans
Male
Neoplasms / diagnosis*
Neoplasms / pathology
Neoplasms / physiopathology
Risk Assessment
Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor

Grants and funding

28289/CRUK_/Cancer Research UK/United Kingdom